Moderation?

Today's resignation under a "cloud" of Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino portends change for politically aggressive, conservative bishops.

"Moderazione" is the message from the powers that be, persuasively argued Mark Silk of Trinity College's Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life.

Catholic religious journalist David Gibson wrote that some bishops may be uneasy with the "more strident and even partisan tone of many church leaders":

Last week, Santa Fe Archbishop Michael Sheehan publicly broke with that minority, telling National Catholic Reporter that the anti-Obama views represented a minority of bishops, and that the majority was hesitant to speak up.
"The bishops don't want to have a battle in public with each other, but I think the majority of bishops in the country didn't join in with that, would not be in agreement with that approach. It's well intentioned, but we don't lose our dignity by being strong in the belief that we have but also talking to others that don't have our belief. We don't lose our dignity by that," he said.

Too bad for the protestant Religious Right? It relies on what Silk calls "take-no-prisoners" members of the Catholic hierarchy to echo and add credence to its campaigns - most recently the counter-factual campaign against health care reform.